I’m not going to let on just yet, but I’ll say that I’ve got some juicy mobile gaming news coming from Nokia. I got to spend some time with Senior Creator and Producer of the game himself, Scott Foe, and everyone is in for a real treat. I’m going to collect some more data and get it together, but trust me when I say that gaming on handsets is about to get much more fun than it has been.

written by Tyler Regas

Got yourself a yen for a pocketable Linux device that actually works like a desktop system? Sure ya do! Therefore, the Pandora people (I can’t tell you if that’s the product name, project name, or the dog’s name, but its from the guys who brought us the GP32X) are building it for you. Word from Pandora is that they are shipping development units this month or next and general “development kits” will be available to anyone in June or July. Pricing in the States will be US$330 (£199 inc. VAT, €212 exc. VAT).

You want specs? Easy: The DS-like unit sports an ARM Cortex A8 CPU running at ~600MHz (likely 624MHz), 4.3″ 800×480 16-bit touchscreen display, PowerVR SGX 3D video chipset, integrated Wi-Fi, a USB host port, dual SDHC card slots, and even S-Video out! No decisions have yet been made on RAM or on-board storage, but the battery will be a 4000mAh LiIon monster. If you have more questions, check out the FAQ. There will be around 100 units of the developer model made and around 3,000 of the user model when it gets finalized. I’m gonna try like hell to get one!

written by Tyler Regas

While LeapFrog isn’t known for skirting on the edge of technological advancement, they do build some solid devices and I like their focus on education. They have announced that coming Summer 2008 they will be offering the new Leapster2, a slimmer, faster device, and their new Didj ‘tween device. The Didj features a 3.2″ 24-bit 240×320 display, an ARM9 CPU running at 393MHz, and 256MBs of Flash ROM. I’m sure the hackmasters will be all over this one, since its priced at US$89.99. The Leapster2 will retail for US$69.99. Titles for the two systems will go for US$24.99 and keep your eyes out for Star Wars: Clone Wars for both.

written by Tyler Regas

You will be forgiven if the only thing you can think of when you here the name “Gizmondo” is company exec Stefan Eriksson smashing a Ferrari Enzo into a pole on California’s famed Pacific Coast Highway in 2006. Though it had sold poorly in the UK for a few months, Tiger Telematic’s brought the Gizmondo to the US, where it continued to languish, eventually driving the company into bankruptcy. Of course, Stefan Eriksson being involved with organized crime didn’t help much either. Well, one of the primary founders, Carl Freer of Gizmondo has come back, said he apologizes for allowing everything to fall apart, that he believes in the product, and that he’s getting it all going again. Apparently, he feels bad about what happened and wants to make it up to the investors.

So, what is the Gizmondo, aside from another taco looking game console (see: Nokia N-Gage)? First of all, its based on Windows CE and is designed from the ground up to be a converged device. I won’t dive into the details willy-nilly, but it did have a nice display, a fast CPU, a goodly amount of RAM, GSM/GPRS radio, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS capabilities. Its biggest problems at the initial launch were high price and lack of games. Carl says now that it will be around US$99 and, if he can manage it, possibly free with carrier contracts. He also says that now have over 20 games with another 8 in production. They also have a company called Plextek who will build the units on spec, and a design for a widescreen model in the works. This might work out, after all!

written by Tyler Regas

Sony has finally wrapped up all of its PSP announcements, so here it all is in one go. Sony has updated the PSP. The new unit is thinner and lighter, and the new firmware adds a number of new features. Sony has also announced their new relationship with psuedo-VoIP provider, Skype. Using the unit’s built-in Wi-Fi capabilities, you can make calls. Finally, Sony has finally rolled out the long anticipated GPS adapter, which turns the PSP into a GPS, ASAP. How’s that for acronyms!

written by Tyler Regas

Sony has a nice promotion going with T-Mobile for its PSP owners and potential buyers. Take your PSP to a T-Mobile HotSpot after upgrading to the latest ROM and you can get six months of free Wi-Fi. The deal lasts through March 28th, 2008, but the fine print says that its only while supplies last, so I’m assuming you’d better hurry. A few more details can be found here.

written by Tyler Regas

23 days from today, it will be Black Friday, a major shopping day in the US. On that day Sears will be selling two new DS Lite units, specifically Nintendogs and Zelda themed units. They will come bundled with the games associated with that branding and they will cost US$149.99 each. Not bad, really, and if you don’t have a DS Lite already, this might be a good time to get one.

written by Tyler Regas

Wow. I didn’t anticipate this ever happening, especially after Sony can’t seem to keep their pants above their collective waist since the PS2 started to peter out. It looked clearly like Nintendo had finally taken back its mantle, but numbers from Japan this week state otherwise. According to PC World, here are those numbers: 95,487 for the Sony PSP, 79,974  units for the Nintendo DS, 26,181 for the Nintendo Wii, 13,128 for the venerable PlayStation 2, 13,101 for the overpriced PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360 cleaning up with a mere 1,243.

Apparently we can chalk all of this PS mania up to one source, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII [in Japanese, US version expected in Spring '08]. This isn’t altogether surprising, but I’m a little shocked that it was enough to put the PSP in the lead over the DS, which itself enjoys a considerable lead over its more capable older brother, the Wii. My only question is will it be enough to maintain a lead? I doubt it. Sony has only been able to manage a very poor showing for the PSP, and the only reason CCFF7 is a hot seller is because Final Fantasy VII was the most popular iteration of the long running franchise.

written by Tyler Regas